LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV played Wyoming even in the first quarter and won the fourth, but was done in by cold shooting performances in the second and third quarters in a 64-49 loss to the Cowgirls Wednesday night in Mountain West women's basketball action from the Cox Pavilion. It was just the second home conference loss of the season for the Lady Rebels, dropping them to 7-7 in league play though they remained alone in fifth place. Wyoming improved to 10-3 in the MW to stay in second place in the standings.
The Cowgirls finished the night shooting 52.2% from the floor against the Lady Rebels, who came into the night ranked second in the conference in field goal defense (in MW games). Wyoming was at its best in the second and third quarters, hitting 6-of-10 (60%) and 8-of-13 (61.5%) from the floor. The visitors were even hotter from three-point range over the middle quarters, knocking down 6-of-7 from behind the arc.
That offset a strong night on the boards for the Lady Rebels. After they were outrebounded 27-26 in Laramie in the first week of league play, the Lady Rebels held a commanding 35-23 edge, and would post a 24-6 advantage on second chance points.
THE TURNING POINT: After Bailey Thomas converted a three-point play for UNLV to cut Wyoming's lead to 21-20, the Cowgirls answered with a 9-0 run for a 30-20 advantage right before halftime. That was the start of an overall 24-4 run over a nine-minute span, leading to a 45-24 margin at the 4:25 mark of the third quarter.
STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV finished the game 19-of-53 from the floor for 35.8%, and were the eighth straight opponent held under 60 points by the Cowgirls.
LADY REBEL OF THE GAME: Senior Nikki Wheatley posted team-highs of 14 points and nine rebounds, while also adding three assists and three steals.
QUOTABLE: "We started off the first quarter with good focus, a good intensity on defense. But they are a team that just has extra patience, they were patient on offense, they made us work for it on defense, they hit some big threes in the second quarter. We missed some shots, and we're better when we get the ball inside, we didn't do that tonight."
- UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier
LADY REBEL NOTES:
* The game was tied at 13-13 after the first quarter.
* UNLV outscored the Cowgirls 20-11 in the final quarter.
* UNLV lost to the Cowgirls in Las Vegas for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
* UNLV's streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer is now at 133 after going 4-of-12 from behind the arc for 33.3%.
NEXT TIME OUT: UNLV will face the San Diego State Aztecs in a key road contest Saturday afternoon at 1 pm. There will be both a live video stream and radio broadcast of the contest, available on UNLVRebels.com.
